Bonnie Parren – KLM Bloghttps://blog.klm.com
Royal Dutch AirlinesSat, 25 May 2019 12:53:55 +0200en-UShourly1https://blog.klm.com/assets/uploads/2018/03/cropped-favicon-120x120.pngBonnie Parren – KLM Bloghttps://blog.klm.com
3232Taking off with… Ernst Regelink | Lead Mechanic Engine Serviceshttps://blog.klm.com/taking-of-with-ernst-regelink/
https://blog.klm.com/taking-of-with-ernst-regelink/#respondFri, 16 Nov 2018 11:01:50 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=80892In our “Taking off with…” series, we introduce you to some of the 32,000 people who work at KLM. If the story below looks familiar, it’s because a shorter version of this piece was published in the Holland Herald of November. This blog gives you the full story! Story: Bonnie Parren | Photos: Natascha Libbert […]

]]>In our “Taking off with…” series, we introduce you to some of the 32,000 people who work at KLM. If the story below looks familiar, it’s because a shorter version of this piece was published in the Holland Herald of November. This blog gives you the full story!

Story: Bonnie Parren | Photos: Natascha Libbert

Biography
Date of birth: 1 September 1963
Place of birth: Nieuwer-Amstel, the Netherlands
Position: Lead Mechanic, Engine Services
Personal: Ernst is married to Wilhelma and has two sons, Nicky (34) and Michel (30), and a daughter, Jamilla (24)
Ernst joined KLM in 1989

Ernst (55) is lead mechanic at KLM Engine Services. He maintains and repairs aircraft engines and trains new mechanics. His technical skill and helpful character are the first things you notice on the work floor. If a colleague runs into a problem they can’t solve, Ernst steps in to help them solve it. When passengers are stranded at the airport, Ernst steps in to put them at ease. Are you being treated unjustly? Ernst speaks up on your behalf. In short, Ernst is a very pleasant colleague indeed.

Engines

What I love about engines is their complexity. Even as a child, I was intrigued by their power and where it came from. What causes the movement? Every detail influences the way an engine runs. The biggest type we work with is the General Electric GE90, which powers our Boeing 777 aircraft. But to be honest, I don’t really care about the size or type. Whether it be an engine for an aircraft, boat or car, I enjoy solving problems and making sure it runs as intended when the engine was designed.

Scooter

When I was six, I built a motorised scooter together with the kid who lived next door. We lived in an industrial area, so we used to find interesting stuff from time to time, including the engine of a Solex moped. We mounted the engine on my scooter and raced up and down the street at 25 km/h.

1 September 1989

My first workday at KLM. Everyone who started work that day went on a guided bus tour of KLM’s facilities. Suddenly the bus stopped and everyone turned around and started singing “Happy Birthday”. It was also my birthday. And that’s really typical of KLM, that personal touch, even though they were all strangers to me. It was like joining a blue family.

Handy

My family is full of craftsmen: contractors, carpenters, glaziers, painters. If you run into a Regelink, there’s a good chance he works with his hands. If I renovate, I do the work myself. My father, who is nearly 80, recently helped me build a studio at my house, so that he and my mother can come and live with us.

Oil

When I smell motor oil, it takes me back to the auto repair shop I worked at before I joined KLM. The workshop had no cars, just engines. And overhaul has its own scent. I always smelled of oil back in those days. It gets into your clothes, into your skin, your hands and you can’t get it out. It’s a penetrating, sickly scent, which you also smell in the hydraulic parts of the aircraft.

Biofuel

I think biofuel is a great and promising new development, although we will still be dependent on fossil fuel for the foreseeable future. Engines have become a lot more economical and efficient, and this shows in the technology. The parts are lighter and stronger, and the engines make less noise. The sound of older aircraft landing is very recognisable.

Flying

We hardly ever go on holiday. But quite by chance – for the first time in at least 20 years! – I boarded a flight for leisure purposes. Together with seven colleagues, we took part in a relay run at Southern Lake Tahoe in California. My wife works as a caregiver, with irregular shifts, just like me. We hardly ever feel the need to go off for longer periods. When I have time off, I usually go out on my boat. A half day out on the water feels like a week’s holiday.

Favourite place

I’ve been to Jakarta a couple of times for KLM, to provide support at the Garuda Maintenance Facility. I found myself loving the city. The kids training there are incredibly eager to learn. And the people are friendly and very hospitable. My local colleagues regularly invited me over for dinner at their homes. New friendships developed and we’re still in touch every week, discussing work and home life.

Workaholic

I am quite dedicated to my job. But it’s also my passion. I enjoy being at work. But that’s also my pitfall. Sometimes I think I’m indispensable, but that’s nonsense, of course.

Setting the torque

It’s a bit weird saying this about yourself: but if my colleagues can’t solve a problem, they usually call me. I’m like a terrier with a problem. There’s a vibration, for instance, but it’s difficult to find out what’s causing it. That may have to do with how tightly a specific bolt has been fastened. The way I fasten a bolt – we call this “setting the torque” – is different to the way a colleague does this. It’s all about precision and the manual contains exact instructions. But that might be the cause of the vibration.

Help!

I enjoy helping others. That’s why it’s so gratifying to work for KLM’s Care and Disruption Team. If there are disruptions, because of heavy snowfall, for instance, I’m called up to assist passengers at the airport. You really can make a difference, especially when it comes to elderly people and families with children. It’s really just a question of giving them the right information, rebooking their flight and putting them at ease.

Roadie

I was a roadie for my son’s band for years. He was the lead singer. After work, I’d head off to tour some European destination. I’d arrange hotels, ensure that they departed on time and arrived on time, make sure there’s plenty of bottled water on stage, change guitar strings, that sort of thing. It was all pretty tiring, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now that he’s stopped singing, I miss the touring band lifestyle.

Talents

All three of my kids are pretty talented. The one is a director of photography, the other works as an independent contractor, and my daughter puts heart and soul into her work as a caregiver, just like my wife. We taught them to play a meaningful role in other people’s lives. Having watched me, they probably know what it costs when you’re inclined to put others first, so I think they’ve probably found a better balance. They’re beautiful people, who have fortunately inherited many of their mother’s traits. Ha ha!

Life lesson

When it comes to contact with other people, everyone wants to be seen. That starts with little things like saying “good morning”. What you’re actually saying is: “I see you and I respect you.” If I notice that a colleague isn’t feeling well, I go over and have a chat. That often helps. And the great thing is: if you approach people in a positive and helpful manner, you get the same in return.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/taking-of-with-ernst-regelink/feed/0Taking off with… Helga Wiegant | Member of KLM’s PR teamhttps://blog.klm.com/taking-off-with-helga-wiegant-member-of-klms-pr-team/
https://blog.klm.com/taking-off-with-helga-wiegant-member-of-klms-pr-team/#respondMon, 08 Oct 2018 14:56:31 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=80120In the “Taking off with…” series, we’ve been interviewing a few of the 32,000 colleagues at KLM. Does this story sound familiar? If so, that’s because part of this piece is featured the Holland Herald. In this blog, you can read the whole story. Short biography Place of birth: Delft, the Netherlands Position: Crew support […]

]]>In the “Taking off with…” series, we’ve been interviewing a few of the 32,000 colleagues at KLM. Does this story sound familiar? If so, that’s because part of this piece is featured the Holland Herald. In this blog, you can read the whole story.

Short biography

Place of birth: Delft, the Netherlands
Position: Crew support at Inflight Services / PR team member

Personal: Helga is married to Paul and they have two daughters, Julie (20) and Sammie (18).
Career: Joined KLM in 1977.

In her capacity as a member of the KLM PR team, she meets and accompanies a wide array of different people. This includes members of the Royal Family, celebrities and, of course, a large number of KLM customers. Helga Wiegant (60) doesn’t get ruffled easily, because she feels like a fish in water wearing her KLM uniform. As long as the contact is genuine.

10 years

That’s how old I was when I first chose a profession as part of a school project. I already knew I wanted to work at KLM; what I would do didn’t really matter much at the time. I sent a letter to KLM and received a neatly typed response from personnel. I still have the letter.

40 years

That’s how long I’ve been at KLM. At first, I thought, gosh, that’s a long time and perhaps a bit boring. When you have worked for KLM for 40 years, you are presented with a special badge and get a chance to throw a party. I did just that and loved every minute of it. Champagne glass in hand, I looked around at all the fantastic colleagues I’ve been privileged enough to meet over the years. I felt an immense sense of pride at having reached the 40-year mark.

Dreamliner duvet

KLM has become part of my life; the common theme running through my family life. I met my husband at KLM – where he still works as a duty hub manager – and my daughters appear to have caught the bug as well. They, too, see themselves joining KLM in the future. It’s close, but we don’t sleep under a Dreamliner duvet yet.

Talent

Establishing contact with people, showing a genuine interest and being curious. That’s my speciality and it’s what I love doing. I like to bring out the best in people. But I don’t always succeed. I’m not spared the occasional confrontation. At those moments you have to draw on all your skills; it’s not hard to be nice, but there really is an art to diplomatically and respectfully resolving difficult situations. If you succeed, you tend to establish lifelong bonds with the people concerned.

Favourite

My favourite part of the company is Engineering & Maintenance (E&M), KLM’s maintenance division. I give guided tours there, which gives me an opportunity to stroll through a Boeing 787 every now and then, or to take a peek inside the innards of an aircraft engine. There is so much knowledge and love for the profession here that it’s palpable.

Paradise

My favourite destination? You want to know where I love to go? Vlieland, one of the Dutch Wadden Islands. We’ve been going there for years as a family; it’s our second home. I still remember asking our daughters: Would you like to go on holiday to Singapore this year, or to Vlieland? Vlieland was the reply.

Dream

Our own little house on Vlieland…

Twee

It may sound twee, but KLM has given me a great deal. I am the daughter of a man who worked in an ice-cream factory. My father died when I was 12, and my mother worked hard and with immense dedication to keep the family on its feet. And she did so very successfully. The fact that I have reached a position where I meet so many people and see so much of the world has made me a richer person, but I never forget where I came from.

Uniform

The moment I put on my uniform, something changes inside me. It gives me strength and puts me in control. I am always aware of the fact that I represent KLM. When I’m in uniform in public, I always greet people more emphatically.

Theme

Sincerity is the most important theme in my life. I want to engage with people in a sincere way, ensuring that there is a real connection. I approach everyone as equals, whether it’s our own CEO, Pieter Elbers, or someone from another echelon of the company.

Mother

It was 6 September 1997. I had a touch of flu and I was lying on the couch, watching the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Then it struck me: she lives on in her children. And suddenly I felt a very strong urge to become a mother. I was 40 at the time, so I was rather late, but exactly a year later, on 6 September 1998, I gave birth to my eldest daughter.

Change

Look at my history: 40 years at KLM and almost 40 years of marriage. I’ve also gone on holiday with the same girlfriends for the past 25 years. You can certainly call me loyal and slightly averse to change. But all is to be transformed in the months ahead! We are moving house this autumn, because my husband is being posted to Nairobi for two years. This will probably be harder for him, because he is very much a family man, but I am sure we’ll be perfectly fine as a couple and as a family.

Delft

No other Dutch city can match Delft for beauty and fun. With its canals and old centre, it’s like a compact version of Amsterdam. The Royal Delft Experience is great, showing you how blue Delftware is made. You should also visit the Nieuwe Kerk where William I, Prince of Orange, and many other Dutch royals are buried. And it’s a good idea to go by train, because the new station is an architectural marvel that is well worth seeing.

Inspiration

I have been teaching ballroom dancing for 25 years. I wasn’t crazy about dancing myself, but I really enjoy teaching people. If I hadn’t joined KLM, I think I would have become a teacher.

Tension

The announcement of the merger between KLM and Air France in 2004 was a tense time. It was all very discrete and hush-hush – rightly so! Only late in the evening did I hear that I had to report for the press conference the next morning. Everyone sensed that this was an important moment for KLM and the Netherlands.

Pandas

The merger was a major media event, but it was dwarfed by the pandemonium that erupted around the arrival of the two giant pandas, Xing Ya and Weng Wu, in April last year. We had representatives from 150 different media organisations from around the world waiting for the new arrivals. It really was exceptional.

On TV

The day before a TV benefit broadcast to raise money for the Philippines, I was asked if I would present a Boeing 747 to deliver relief goods. Live. On television. While I was sitting in the stylist’s chair, they pinned a microphone on me and explained how many seconds I had to put my message across. I must admit, I was slightly nervous, but it is one of the memories of my career I shall always treasure.

Peace

I have the best job in the world. That includes my work at crew centre with crews and my position on the PR team. Look, I’m all for world peace, of course, but that’s not something I have any influence over. But I can be open and kind to other people, in the hope that it will make the world a slightly better place. It all begins with that one smile.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/taking-off-with-helga-wiegant-member-of-klms-pr-team/feed/0KLM Delft Blue Miniature Houses: everything you need to knowhttps://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-everything-you-need-to-know/
https://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-everything-you-need-to-know/#commentsTue, 02 Oct 2018 08:02:59 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=21714KLM miniature houses have been cherished collectors’ items among passengers for more than 60 years. The little Delft Blue houses decorate many window sills, offices and kitchen cabinets. This week we will celebrate KLM’s 99th birthday, and as always, with the unveiling of a new KLM House. But first, a few facts: The first miniature KLM Delft […]

]]>KLM miniature houses have been cherished collectors’ items among passengers for more than 60 years. The little Delft Blue houses decorate many window sills, offices and kitchen cabinets. This week we will celebrate KLM’s 99th birthday, and as always, with the unveiling of a new KLM House.

But first, a few facts:

The first miniature KLM Delft Blue Houses were given to passengers, almost certainly, in 1952.

Production was random until 1994; a number of houses were produced one after another, then none for several of years.

An extra 15 houses were produced in 1994 in honour of KLM’s 75th anniversary. This brought the number to exactly 75. The number of houses in the series has kept pace with KLM’s age ever since.

Photo: Ben Kortman

Filled with Dutch Genever

The first houses were filled with Bols Genever in the 1980s. Prior to that they contained a liqueur or gin from the long-established Dutch distilleries Rynbende and Henkes.

KLM Houses are handed out to passengers who travel World Business Class.

Some are used as ashtrays

Given the alcohol policies in a number of destinations in the Middle East, KLM handed out house-shaped ashtrays for a little while. A fun detail in these ashtrays was that, when a cigarette was placed in the back of the ashtray, the smoke came out of the chimney. The following editions of the KLM Houses came in ashtray form: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23 ,25, 26, 27.

The Delft Blue Houses were produced by Royal Goedewaagen in Gouda until 1995.

Almost 75% of all Delftware is made outside Delft. It is therefore the technique that lends its name to the houses and not the place.

More than 800,000 KLM-houses each year

Apart from the standard series of houses, a few miniatures have been issued without a number. The Royal Palace Amsterdam, Goudse Waag cheese weigh house in Gouda, Paleis het Loo in Apeldoorn, Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam, and the Hall of Knights in The Hague all have a limited-edition, KLM version of themselves.

Apart from the early ones, KLM Houses are always replicas of buildings of special historical and architectural interest.

The only house so far that was produced, but not based in the Netherlands is House No. 85. This is a model of the Penha building, the most famous house on Curaçao, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

For a house to be reproduced as a porcelain miniature, it is important that its facades and ornaments are not too detailed or outstanding.

The maximum size of a miniature is 5.5 cm x 10 cm.

Photo: Ben Kortman

Newlyweds

Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam and the Goudse Waag cheese weigh house in Gouda were given to newlyweds flying KLM on their honeymoon.

An enlarged version of the Royal Palace Amsterdam has also been presented to the winner of the KLM Open golf tournament every year since 2004.

KLM Delft Blue House No. 99 will be revealed on the fifth of October. Keep an eye on our social media channels to be the first one finding out what the new house will be.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/klm-delfts-blue-minitiature-houses-everything-you-need-to-know/feed/60Flying with Children: Terrible or Terrific?https://blog.klm.com/flying-with-children-terrible-or-terrific/
https://blog.klm.com/flying-with-children-terrible-or-terrific/#commentsWed, 22 Feb 2017 09:00:45 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=14738Once upon a time, long, long ago, I lived in a wonderful world where I could decide to travel to Barcelona today, and be there tomorrow. I would head off at the drop of hat, carrying just one tiny suitcase as hand luggage. But this wonderful world was obliterated when I started travelling with kids. […]

]]>Once upon a time, long, long ago, I lived in a wonderful world where I could decide to travel to Barcelona today, and be there tomorrow. I would head off at the drop of hat, carrying just one tiny suitcase as hand luggage. But this wonderful world was obliterated when I started travelling with kids. If you’re anything like me, you know this can total drama or great fun. Fortunately, there are ways to ward off the former and ensure the latter. Here are some tips.

1. A gift every hour

My last flight lasted only three hours. Easy-peasy, you might say, but flying with children, in my case three daughters aged 9, 4 and 9 months, I was very glad I’d taken my little-bag-of-joy along, filled with small gifts. Every hour, I handed out pencils, a colouring book, a game cube or a comic book. And every hour there was a bit of a party, followed by 30 minutes of distraction and 30 minutes of anticipation for the next gift.

2. DIY travel games

This isn’t rocket science. Using only your imagination, a pen and some paper, you can play hangman, noughts & crosses, dots & boxes, and the animal name game. Say what? You start with “elephant” and then the next player has to use the last letter to come up with the next animal, like “tyrannosaurus rex”. Well, maybe not, but you get the idea. Which reminds me of a bad experience I had playing “I spy with my little eye…” The game went as follows:

3. Pre-flight fun

This should have been at the top of the list, because solid pre-flight preparation is key. About a week before departure, start reading them books about planes. There are plenty of fun books about holidays and travel. And don’t forget your own preparations. If you arrive at the airport well in advance, you can check-in comfortably and leave plenty of time to explore the airport. This ensures that your own stress levels, and those of your children, stay low.

4. The Baby Chain

If you’re travelling with a baby, it’s always a good idea to reserve a carrycot. But even if you do, your baby will spend a lot of time on your lap. You can keep them amused with a baby chain. Say what? A necklace with shiny bits, chewy toys, bells and other stuff baby’s love. One of the parents wears it or, if you value your sanity, you can take turns wearing it. After the landing, I usually hide it in my bag, because it’s not really the kind of fashion statement I’m trying to make.

5. Have no fear, Bluey is here!

Apart from the entertainment you bring yourself, most airlines make an effort to entertain their younger passengers. Having said that, allow me to introduce Bluey to all adults travelling with kids. This little, cute and obviously blue, airplane is KLM’s mascot for children. From take off until landing, Bluey travels along. On KLM’s intercontinental flights, kids are given the Bluey Play Set and the inflight entertainment system has a special children’s channel, which also features Bluey’s adventures in a really fun series of four, two of which are brand new! With Bluey at hand, chances are you (or other passengers) won’t even notice your kids travelling with you. Now how’s that for a mascot? To really make your flight something special for your kids, order a special kids meal 24 hours in advance via this link. The smiles on their faces are the best start of any holiday!

6. Meet the crew

You really can change your trip into an unforgettable experience by getting a photo of your kids with one of the crew. To be quite honest, I never dare to ask this myself, but my daughter has absolutely no qualms at all. You can make up for a lot of airborne drama by getting a photo of your kid with a friendly stewardess, possibly even in the galley.

7. Peace offerings

It goes without saying that my children would neeeever produce socially unacceptable noise levels aboard a plane, but should that ever be the case, I always have peace offerings in my bag. If they’ve been too noisy, my daughters present these offerings (often in the form of biscuits and sweets) to passengers seated within earshot. And if things have really gotten out of hand, you can replace the biscuits with earplugs. ;)

Ruben Sedoc (1 year old) with his own Bluey

Sounds familiar?

Maybe you feel like you’ve read this before. That’s right. We’ve posted this blog in April 2015. But seeing that for some of us spring holiday is here or just around the corner we’ve decided to do a repost. Also we wanted to let you know that there are two brand newepisodes of our own little fella Bluey’s adventures. One can never get too many tips for a great start of an ever greater holiday, right?

]]>https://blog.klm.com/flying-with-children-terrible-or-terrific/feed/12The Traveling T. rexhttps://blog.klm.com/the-traveling-t-rex/
https://blog.klm.com/the-traveling-t-rex/#commentsWed, 31 Aug 2016 12:00:40 +0000https://blog.klm.com/nl/?p=37502Montana (USA) – In May 2013, two amateur palaeontologists stumbled upon something huge sticking out of the sand. It turned out to be the skull of an exceptionally well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex (also known as T. rex). Air France KLM Martinair Cargo had the honour of transporting the elderly lady safely across the Atlantic Ocean to […]

]]>Montana (USA) – In May 2013, two amateur palaeontologists stumbled upon something huge sticking out of the sand. It turned out to be the skull of an exceptionally well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex (also known as T. rex). Air France KLM Martinair Cargohad the honour of transporting the elderly lady safely across the Atlantic Ocean to the Netherlands. Join us on Trix’s journey.

From pandas and racehorses to Mondrian paintings and prize-winning solar race cars, KLM Cargo has transported the most exotic and precious ‘passengers’ over the years. On Wednesday 23 August, they transported their oldest passenger ever – 65 million years old and named Trix. With the help of crowd funding, the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, located in Leiden, succeeded in excavating and buying this unique ancient treasure at a cost of EUR 5 million.

Photo credit: Servaas Neijens/National Geographic Magazine

Lost and found

T. rex lived only in North America, and Trix is the first complete fossil to leave the US. At the excavation site, Naturalis worked closely with the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, which specialises in paleontological excavations and preservation. At the site, palaeontologists applied the first layers of transparent coating to the bones to make them less fragile and protect them against moisture. They added plaster casts to transport them safely to the Black Hills Institute headquarters in Hill City, South Dakota, USA.

Photo credit: Servaas Neijens/National Geographic Magazine

Exciting tail

Naturalis palaeontologist Anne Schulp coordinated the project. What was the most exciting part about uncovering of this skeleton? “Definitely the tail! Never has a complete T. rex tail been found. The tip is always missing. So, I was hoping against hope, brushing and uncovering one tailbone after the next.” And, was the tip still there? “No, unfortunately not. Obviously, it was a very fragile part, or just a very nice snack for other animals.”

Photo credit: Black Hills Institute

Preparing and building

The entire skeleton consists of 300 bones, 55 of which make up the huge skull. All the bones were put in a digital 3D model to find out which ones were missing or destroyed and a 3D printer reconstructed the missing parts. They also established her age and gender. The T. rex was a lady of around 30 years of age, which is fairly old for this particular species.

Photo credit: Black Hills Institute

Animal of steel

In order to ‘resurrect’ Trix more easily, the Black Hills crew created a steel skeleton so that the 300 bones just have to be ‘clicked’ into place. That way, it will take three or four people just two days to put Trix together. “At Black Hills, they can really work magic with steel. What’s so special about Trix’s skeleton is that she makes eye contact with people, because she’s bending downwards,” Schulp says.

Photo credit: Black Hills Institute

Safely packed

At the Black Hills Institute, Trix’s bones were stabilised in special foam and placed in strong crates. They are not made of standard wood because that can easily be contaminated with bacteria or fungi. Instead, they use a special strong sort of plywood” In total, they needed nine crates to pack Trix and her steel skeleton. The whole thing weighed about 5000 kilos.

Photo credit: Marten van Dijl/ANP

Cargo patrol

After a 20-hour drive from the Black Hills Institute – which Air France KLM Martinair Cargo also arranged – Trix arrived at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Nico van der Linden (Director Development & Aerospace Logistics at Air France KLM Martinair Cargo) coordinated the transport. “We chose Chicago because we have a special Boeing 747-400 combi carrier there, which can carry passengers and cargo at the same time. So we knew from the start that Trix would be accompanied by many people, including Anne Schulp and his colleagues from Naturalis,” he says.

Photo credit: The Netherlands Embassy

Passport Control

Like any flying passenger, Trix needed to get the right documents. Her oversized passport was handed to the captain taking care of the flight by Dutch authorities in Chicago.

Photo credit: Marten van Dijl/ANP

Going home

On Tuesday evening 23 August, the aircraft carrying Trix and her party took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. “Before the flight, we covered the crates in extra plastic and used a special transport net to stabilise them in the plane,” Van der Linden says.

Photo credit: Natascha Libbert

Time-out

Ready, set, go

Early in the morning on Friday 25 August, KLM Cargo’s people were already busy preparing the crates for the road journey to Naturalis in Leiden. Palaeontologist Schulp (pictured second from the left) travelled to Schiphol to pick up Trix personally. Joining him was Freek Vonk (far left), the enthusiastic Naturalis biologist and TV presenter. KLM Cargo executive vice president Marcel de Nooijer (right) personally handed Trix over to them.

Photo credit: Natascha Libbert

Siren calling

Escorted by police, Trix was driven to Leiden by Jan de Rijk Logistics, the certified operator KLM Cargo had arranged for the transport.

Photo credits: Servaas Neijens

A star is born

In Leiden, Trix was welcomed by the entire city. School children, people on their lunch breaks, students, elderly people – everyone had gathered to cheer on their newest (and oldest) fellow citizen.

Photo credits: Servaas Neijens

Mission accomplished

At Naturalis, Schulp and Vonk opened the crate with Trix’s skull for the many journalists, photographers, scientists, and others. From 2 to 9 September, Naturalis will prepare the huge exhibition, T. rex in Town! including the construction of Trix’s entire skeleton. Want to see Trix yourself? You can admire her at Naturalis from 10 September.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/the-traveling-t-rex/feed/5“Do What You Can Without Messing Up Operations”https://blog.klm.com/do-what-you-can-without-messing-up-operations/
https://blog.klm.com/do-what-you-can-without-messing-up-operations/#commentsTue, 19 Jul 2016 07:30:56 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=35358Always in a suit and a tie, even when it’s 30°C outside, cheering up his team with jokes that would draw laughter from a stone, we can safely say Gary Denson is British to the bone. But how did a Manchester lad end up in Singapore working for a Dutch airline? Just how English are […]

]]>Always in a suit and a tie, even when it’s 30°C outside, cheering up his team with jokes that would draw laughter from a stone, we can safely say Gary Denson is British to the bone. But how did a Manchester lad end up in Singapore working for a Dutch airline?

Just how English are you?

Very. I served in the Royal Navy as a mine warfare specialist. So there’s this patriotic royalist inside of me. As for the suit, it’s a family thing. My grandfather even wore a suit when he went out to the supermarket. “Always dress like the man you want to be,” he used to say. Then again, I wouldn’t go back to Britain, because I fit in so well here.

How did that happen?

I fell in love with Asia when I was stationed in Shanghai for KLM for more than four years. I just loved the chaos of the city, with its population of 23 million. For my wife, it was overwhelming at times. She would have a “China-moment”, as we called it, and would seek shelter in a Marks & Spencer and then call me to say: “I’m okay now.”

In Asia, there is a “welcoming naturalness” to the land and it is reflected in the people. I consider myself very privileged to be able to experience all these different and diverse cultures. To be honest, I have never felt more at home than in China and now Central South East Asia.

You have two kids aged 8 and 11. What’s it like living with a family in Singapore?

It’s just fantastic. It’s safe, kids can remain kids longer than in Europe, I presume. My son, who is 11, usually plays rugby on a field with a jaw-dropping backdrop. I keep reminding him: “Never take this for granted. We are so lucky to be in this position.”

[tweet text=”I’ve never felt more at home than in Asia”]

How did you start your career?

After several years in the Royal Navy, I stumbled upon aviation and started out as an aircraft dispatcher for a handling agent, working through the ranks to eventually hold the position of operations manager. I joined KLM in 2004 as a regional station manager in the UK, moving to Shanghai in 2010. I was fortunate enough to be appointed regional station manager for Central South East Asia (CSEA) in the summer of 2014.

What lessons did you learn as a handler working for different airlines?

As a handler in charge of servicing aircraft on the ground, I always had this strange relationship with the existing hierarchy. Talking to the station manager was a big thing. He was a god. Even back then, I knew I never wanted my handlers to think that way. I want to be on the same page with them. They should feel they are just as much part of the airline as I am.

That’s why I always take the time to compliment them or to discuss football or their home life. What I’m looking for is a sense of togetherness that I sorely missed during my time as a handling agent.

When you joined KLM in 2004 as regional manager for the UK, you were in charge of 17 airports and 62 flights a day. On your own. How?

It was quite challenging, actually. I think I drove more than 50 to 60 thousand kilometres a year from airport to airport. Early in the morning, I would call all deputies to check if all flights had departed as planned. Then the rest of the work would start. I think the effort I put into the job created the opportunity to go to Shanghai, for which I am still very grateful.

What does your current job entail?

I’m responsible for our stations and the handling of all KLM and Air France flights in Singapore, Malaysia, Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali) in Indonesia. Flight safety and security are at the top of my list of responsibilities. They go hand-in-hand with customer satisfaction.

How many weekly flights does that entail?

We are currently handling 55 flights a week with 17 full-time Air France-KLM staff, supported by our team of handling agents at each station.

What are your biggest challenges?

The KLM flights in Singapore have one of the shortest turnaround times in the network: just 70 minutes, during which we have to fully disembark an often full flight (meaning 425 passengers) and then clean the cabin (which can be quite a challenge after a 13-hour flight), fully cater, refuel, change crew and unload baggage and cargo. Then we have to load cargo and baggage, and get all the passengers on board, which includes the screening of all hand luggage and the security check. It’s a herculean task to get all this done in 70 minutes.

Short turnaround times

The same goes for Kuala Lumpur and Denpasar. They have short turnaround times as well. Despite all this, we have an excellent success rate for on-time departures, thanks to the dedication of our teams.

So the process has to run like clockwork?

Definitely. Little things can make a big difference. We made a stroller drop-off sign, for instance. If you have kids, you can probably relate to this. There’s that moment when you start wondering where you have to leave the stroller behind and worrying that you’ll never see it again. Our sign says: “Don’t worry. This is the place. We will take care of it.” You have to get into the passenger’s head to take the insecurity away and make the experience more pleasant.

Our team in Singapore.

[tweet text=”Do what you can without messing up operations”]

To be honest, the boarding in Singapore for the Bali flight at 4 p.m. is challenging. More than half of the 425 passengers have already travelled for at least 15 hours, the kids are on meltdown and parents are somewhere between hysteria and burnout. So it’s a huge relief if a KLM employee walks up to you, distracts your children and takes the family to the Sky Priority lane, so they can take a seat and relax. I always say: “Do what you can without messing up operations.”

We have the power to make a flight as pleasurable as possible. If we can touch just one passenger per flight, we’re doing things right.

Our team in Bali with station manager Atiek (left).

We’ve spent a few days with you and your team in Bali. What are the challenges here in Denpasar?

Well, Mount Rinjani and Mount Raung didn’t make life any easier last year. In July and November 2015, we had to cancel flights and even had them turning back halfway Bali, because the airport was closed due to the ash cloud.

[tweet text=”Mount Rinjani and Mount Raung didn’t make life any easier last year”]

What’s the secret to communicating bad news to passengers?

Introduce yourself, take responsibility and show them you are in full control. Give all the information you have, be as transparent as possible, and elaborate on the next steps, as in: “I will tell you what you are going to do next.” If you get the speech right, there won’t be any complaints at the desk.

During the volcanic eruptions, we had around 1,000 passengers stranded in Bali. Atiek, our local station manager in Bali, and her staff worked 20-hour days for two weeks. We really took care of people and they knew we had done our best.

Briefing at Denpasar/Bali.

During the briefing with the staff and handling team in Bali, you shared this remarkable story about customer intimacy – an example that came from a different airline. Is it important to share such experiences?

Yes, I believe so. I was flying Garuda Airlines, sitting next to this elderly couple. The lady asked the flight attendant for an extra blanket. She came back with the blanket, which was wrapped in plastic, and instead of just giving it to her, she unpacked the blanket, unfolded it and tucked the lady in as if it was her own mother. This really touched me. She was going that extra mile, knowing what this passenger needed.

[tweet text=”She tucked her in as if it was her own mother”]

Before I arrived for this reportage, you already wrote a four-page blog on what you believe should be in the article. Are you a bit of a control freak?

Have you been talking to my wife? Ha-ha. Well, ehm, possibly, just a bit. I think it’s important to keep yourself informed and in control, especially in my job. In the end, I’m responsible for the handling of 55 flights a week. We can’t afford to make mistakes and that’s the ongoing burden of a station manager. I think that’s why I need to be on top of everything that’s happening and anything out of the ordinary.

Is there any particular passenger you remember?

A few months ago, this young boy flew out alone to visit his grandfather in Bali. However, he’d misplaced his passport during the twelve-hour flight and we only managed to find it after the flight to Bali had departed. So we were faced with a real problem, as this now very anxious boy needed to spend 24 hours in Singapore, alone.

I spoke to his father in France and found out that – incredibly – the boy’s uncle lived in Singapore! I had already asked one of the ladies on my staff to stay with the boy at a hotel, but instead we made arrangements for him to spend those 24 hours with his uncle. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so it was a really nice moment when they first met again. They were about to spend some quality time together, including meeting his new nephew for the first time. Sometimes things are just meant to be.

What will be your next stop?

I am perfectly happy here, but that’s up to KLM’s Head Office. I hope to stay in Asia for the foreseeable future, as it is such a complex operational environment. It really pushes your ability and experience to the limit each and every day.

Things to do in Singapore

Go hiking, Gary says!

Rarely do people consider hiking as a leisure activity in Singapore, mainly because our hot and humid weather is pure madness. However, living in the hubbub of excitement in Singapore, there are times when you want to step back and simply unwind.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/do-what-you-can-without-messing-up-operations/feed/33Meet Martin, Our Man in Mexicohttps://blog.klm.com/meet-martin-our-man-in-mexico/
https://blog.klm.com/meet-martin-our-man-in-mexico/#commentsThu, 09 Jun 2016 07:30:06 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=33802Carrying a thermos full of coffee – “You never know when you’ll find time around here” – station manager Martin van de Pol strides through the airport, giving a high-five to a gate agent here, shaking hands with a lounge manager there. Join him on a tour of one of the most dynamic destinations in […]

]]>Carrying a thermos full of coffee – “You never know when you’ll find time around here” – station manager Martin van de Pol strides through the airport, giving a high-five to a gate agent here, shaking hands with a lounge manager there. Join him on a tour of one of the most dynamic destinations in the Air France KLM network: Mexico.

Our plane was struck by lightning as we were coming in. Does that happen often?

The rainy season in Mexico runs from May to November. Thunderstorms are heaviest in the late afternoon, which is precisely when the KLM and Air France flights land here. So it’s not uncommon for flights to be struck by lightning on the way in. It’s not a problem and not at all dangerous, but protocol dictates that the aircraft should undergo a visual inspection during daylight hours. A ground engineer looks for the spots where the lightning entered and exited the aircraft. He’s actually looking for tiny holes and, because it’s almost dark, he has to hurry, otherwise the aircraft has to be grounded. So he’s under a bit of pressure.

What makes the airport here special?

Apart from the fact that the weather can play a major role, the airport is located at an altitude of 2,300 metres and is flanked by high mountain ranges and an active volcano, Mount Popocatepetl. The Boeing 747, with its four engines, is the ideal aircraft for this destination. The air is thinner at this altitude, so an aircraft fully loaded with passengers and cargo needs quite a bit of power to take off; you need to pick up a lot of speed in a short time. This makes the Boeing 747 the ideal option.

Other aircraft like the Boeing 777 and 787 are perfectly capable of doing this, of course, but they are slightly more vulnerable at this airport’s altitude, because they have only two engines.

We already have to do a bit of puzzling when we’re loading the 747, and sometimes we decide to leave a pallet behind because the take-off weight is too heavy.

Leave cargo behind because the plane might be too heavy? How exactly does that work?

When temperatures cool, the density factor of fuel decreases, which means it gets lighter. One degree cooler means we can carry 1.5 tonnes more cargo. But the converse also applies: if it gets 2 degrees warmer than predicted, we have to take pallets out of the belly.

The trick is to make sure we don’t take on too much cargo and allow for a bigger margin, so that we can take temperature fluctuations into account. It’s better to depart on time than to have to offload cargo, but it’s always a question of finding the right balance.

Martin is a jack-of-all-trades. In the morning, he’ll be consulting with airport management about the construction of a gate, while the afternoon will see him rushing off to an electronics shop to buy a cable for the iPad on board. A varied job, to say the least.

What’s the most important part of your job?

As station manager, I need to ensure the best possible conditions for my people to do their work well. You could see it as an inverted pyramid. The people at the top are in contact with customers most, and I’m somewhere down at the bottom, trying to solve day-to-day problems, but also seeking to implement long-term solutions.

Could you give us some idea of the dynamics?

It’s as if I’ve bought a ticket for a roller coaster than never stops. It drives my wife crazy sometimes. I don’t really have any time off. My schedule might say it’s my day off, but the phone doesn’t stop ringing.

Apart from my operational duties, I also have to do quite a lot of lobbying. If you don’t maintain good ties with the airport authorities, for instance, or with the lounge manager or local media, you won’t get very far here. The results are less important than maintaining those relationships. So I spend a lot of time meeting and visiting people, having lunches here and there, or chatting on Skype.

It must be pretty difficult for a Dutchman to get his foot in the door here in Mexico.

It was quite a challenge in the beginning, because I didn’t speak Spanish very well. But I did a five-day crash course and I’d spent a year in Havana, so I had a broad idea of what was going on in meetings and I could make a point if I’d prepared it properly. People listened carefully and spoke more slowly if they asked me a question, but that’s not very useful when you’re dealing with more complicated issues. It took me a year and a half to master the language.

Staff briefing and celebrating ‘Día de la Madre’ (Mothers Day).

Do you work with station managers from the other airlines?

Commercially, we’re competitors, of course, and there’s a lot of rivalry when it comes to pricing. Sometimes the European airlines will team up to approach the authorities or airport management, because we’re stronger that way. And we assist each other operationally. I recently lent Lufthansa a spare wheel, for example. That meant their flight wasn’t grounded for the night. The great thing is that next time round, I can call on them if I need help. That’s the way it works.

People think it’s pretty romantic, working abroad. But is that so?

I can understand that. You’re an expat, living an adventurous life, which is true to a certain extent, but you also have to make sacrifices. We’ve had to give up quite a bit in terms of social contacts and freedoms. My two kids – I have a 14-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter – can’t just walk outside to go and play with friends. And our whole life revolves around my job. I’m always on duty, because everything is my responsibility.”

You’re responsible for handling 18 flights a week. Passenger flights operated by KLM and Air France, as well as cargo flight to Guadalajara. You’re in charge of 51-strong team that serves KLM as well as Air France.

Some say that Mexico is a classic example of Air France-KLM integration. Why is that?

Prior to the arrival of every flight, this team inspects the platform for tiny objects, much like a human vacuum cleaner. They need to be removed because they can get sucked into the engines.

Air France has been serving Mexico City since 1952, which is longer than any other European carrier. KLM has been flying to Mexico almost as long, and we integrated with Air France here in 2009. In the beginning, a lot of Air France staff saw KLM as a “different company”, whereas we wanted to display a sense of unity, particularly towards the passengers. I managed to speed up the unification process by giving all our staff an Air France uniform, as well as a KLM uniform. You are what you wear, after all! My team now display the Air France-KLM identity, which has now found its way into their mindset. I also taught our staff some handy Dutch words, such as goedendag, welkom and goede reis (good day, welcome and enjoy your flight). All in the interests of bridging differences.

It takes 110 people to handle the Air France A380.

How are Air France and KLM regarded in Mexico?

Air France used to serve Mexico with Concorde and is seen as a pioneer, chic and sophisticated. Because there are strong similarities between French and Mexican culture, they have a powerful brand reputation here.

KLM is also a well-known brand, partly because of last year’s “Adios Amigos” Facebook post and Tweet. That really helped put our name on everyone’s lips, though “helped” isn’t the right word…

That KLM post sparked a lot of uproar in Mexico, didn’t it? Could you tell us what happened?

That post went viral throughout Latin America, but in a negative way, as you know. At the time, I was in a café with my family, fully kitted out in orange, watching the football match between Mexico and Holland. Once word about the post started getting around, we didn’t dare go out in the street anymore. Our office got threats, we had KLM crews transported to and from the airport in busses with tinted windows, accompanied by extra security, who were also on hand at the hotel.

Locals sometimes still tell me: “No era penal” – that wasn’t a penalty. The post rubbed salt in that wound and the impact was huge. We apologised in a press release, but there was fallout from the incident for weeks afterwards.

You refer to the airport as “a friendly hell”. What do you mean by that?

The people are incredibly friendly and helpful. That’s something you’ll experience when travelling in Mexico. But the airport is old and bursting at the seams. There’s no air-conditioning, for instance, and there’s actually too little capacity to handle the volume of passengers arriving and departing. That presents all sorts of problems.

The arrival of the Air France A380 was quite a challenge. How did that go?

Ha! I could write a book about that! We spent five years lobbying here to get landing rights for A380. We knew Air France was planning to phase out its Boeing 747s and that the A380 was the logical successor, because it has four engines.

Air France has 10 A380s, but they can’t just land anywhere. The airport has to be equipped to handle such a large, heavy aircraft. You need a runway that is wide enough, jetways that can connect to the doors on the upper and lower levels of the plane, and sufficient capacity to handle a sudden surge of passengers, because the plane has 516 seats.

Invest millions

In short, there was a lot to do. The government had to invest millions of dollars in the airport, even though it was just for one A380 flight a day. Things were complicated by the fact that a new airport is being built, which is scheduled to open in 2020. So there were doubts as to whether they should invest in an “aging” airport. And there are plenty of other things the money could be spent on, of course.

A national symbol of progress

You can imagine how thrilled we were when – after Mexican President Peña Nieto visited France on 14 July 2015 – we heard that the A380 was welcome in Mexico City. The president has vowed to make real progress in the areas of education, energy and the investment climate, so the A380 has become a national symbol of progress and growth in the Mexican economy.

Mexico really wanted to be the first Latin American country to welcome the A380. And it was. We had five months to resurface 140,000 square metres of taxiways and build two gates with double jetways.

Some people had their doubts, but when the president says “let’s do it”, everyone moves heaven and earth to get it done. And we succeeded. The first A380 landed on Mexican soil on 14 January. And it was One. Big. Party!

Sounds great. How was the A380 welcomed?

It was a madhouse. There was a media grandstand for 150 journalists on the apron; five TV stations broadcast the arrival live; the president tweeted “It has landed”; there was a major government delegation at the airport and thousands of people lined the roads to get a glimpse of this giant aircraft. In publicity terms, that first flight was worth millions of dollars.

What is the added value for customers to have you here in Mexico?

By lobbying and negotiating, I try to organise things behind the scenes as best I can. This ranges from handling baggage as quickly as possible, to finding a more suitable diversion airport. That’s actually quite an interesting story.

Our standard diversion airports were Guadalajara or Acapulco, which are about two flight hours from here. But these airports aren’t really equipped for an A380 or a 747 Combi.

Diversion airport

I’d heard of an airport called Queretaro, about a half-hour flight from Mexico City, which mainly handled smaller aircraft and sometimes a larger aircraft coming in for maintenance, because Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico have engineering centres there. So I drove out there with Captain Joost Veenendaal and Flight Support Manager Vincent Hilligers to inspect the airport. It looked like an option on paper, but we needed to check whether that was the case in reality. Fortunately, we weren’t disappointed, so we added Queretaro as a diversion airport.

Last year, KLM became the first European airline to use this airport. Recently, we also made some adjustments so that the Air France A380 could also land there. And even more recently we made the front pages of local papers when our A380 actually had to land there! What an event!

The main advantage is that we don’t have far to go. We can refuel quickly and then fly on to Mexico City without passengers having to leave the plane. This is to everyone’s advantage.

In a month’s time, they’ll be parking a container at your front door and your stint in Mexico will be over. What will you miss?

The people, without a doubt. They have a saying here: “You cry when you get here, but your cry even harder when you leave.” And that’s the truth. The people are so friendly and have to work so hard to earn a living. I’ll also definitely miss Mexican cooking – the fresh ingredients, the food stalls, the colourful markets.

What I won’t miss is the administrative burden. There’s so much bureaucracy and so many people working in it. I’ll be glad to leave that behind.

Martin’s Mexico City tips

Go to a real local market. You’ll find good food and great, colourful handmade items.

Visit Xochimilco with its many canals and floating gardens.

If you’re interested in the arts, then you should visit one of the many museums. The collections are superb!

The Paseo de la Reforma is closed to traffic on Sundays, making this broad avenue at the heart of the city a haven for cyclists, pedestrians and roller skaters.

Late October: the annual migration of the Monarch butterfly, which fly about 4,000 kilometres every year to reach the woods of central western Mexico. They arrive in their millions and cover the trees in a magnificent browny-orange blanket.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/meet-martin-our-man-in-mexico/feed/52The 12 Best KLM Blog Posts of 2015https://blog.klm.com/must-read-the-12-best-klm-blog-posts-of-2015/
https://blog.klm.com/must-read-the-12-best-klm-blog-posts-of-2015/#commentsWed, 06 Jan 2016 09:22:31 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=26082It’s that time of year again where you get flooded by “listicles”. What’s good about these top-lists is that you get served the best of the best. At least, you can be sure with this winner’s list of best-read KLM blog posts of 2015. #12. History rocks! Written by our star-blogger Frido who has the […]

]]>It’s that time of year again where you get flooded by “listicles”. What’s good about these top-lists is that you get served the best of the best. At least, you can be sure with this winner’s list of best-read KLM blog posts of 2015.

#12. History rocks!

Written by our star-blogger Frido who has the complete historic archive of KLM in his head. Ask him anything from decades ago and he will serve you with a list of dates and names. 3 Aircraft That Definately Changed Aviation is his no. 1 blog post.

#11. Oh Jessey…

This girl was on a roll! As one of our social media agents you could ask her anything via social media using #jesseyknows. Well, anything that had to do with aircraft and KLM. She would then get on her scooter, drive to one of our hangars and tackle an engineer to ask him the ins and outs. Jessey no longer works at KLM, but you can still ask our social media team anything you’d like to know.

#7. Welcome to the club honey

Our reporter Eline was on board the very first welcome flight on our Boeing 787 Dreamliner. A round trip from Amsterdam to Amsterdam. She portrayed the passengers, almost all man crazy about aircraft, on board of this inaugural flight.

#5. Tips and tricks

Losing you baggage is just so uncool. Sometimes the baggage system is at fault, sometimes the airline makes mistakes and, yes, sometimes you yourself are to blame. With these tips and tricks we can ensure that your suitcase goes wherever you go. A popular read as many other blog sites also published this article.

#4. The future is near

Don’t we all like to have a sneak peak of the future? Our engineer Rob Duivis was involved in many studies involving future methods of flying. He wrote this intriguing blog post about aircraft design expected to appear sometime around 2050.

#3. Keep on dream(line)ing

There she was. Straight from the factory in Seattle. Hundreds of plane spotters, people from the press and aviation geeks gathered alongside the runway at Schiphol to welcome this new member of the KLM fleet. Pilot Bouke Rypma wrote this blog about “the flying circus” of picking up an aircraft.

#1. Keep your engines running

How powerful is an aircraft engine? What is the biggest aircraft engine in the world? And what does an engine cost? Although it’s a man’s world, two ladies from our Engineering & Maintenance division are well equipped to answer all kind of engineering questions. Dear readers, you appreciated this blog the most.

]]>https://blog.klm.com/must-read-the-12-best-klm-blog-posts-of-2015/feed/2This Flying Family Lives on Airhttps://blog.klm.com/this-flying-family-lives-on-air/
https://blog.klm.com/this-flying-family-lives-on-air/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 07:30:58 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=17954They really do exist: families in which (almost) everyone works at KLM or has something to do with flying. The Van der Plas family is one of these KLM-families. I met them when they were on a rather special journey. “We didn’t think it would ever happen,” said Linda van der Plas, the daughter in […]

]]>They really do exist: families in which (almost) everyone works at KLM or has something to do with flying. The Van der Plas family is one of these KLM-families. I met them when they were on a rather special journey.

“We didn’t think it would ever happen,” said Linda van der Plas, the daughter in this story. When she completed her pilot training in 2012, she couldn’t get a job at KLM straight away. It wasn’t until May 2015 that she officially joined KLM as a second officer on the Boeing 747.

“Just in time,” Linda explained, because her father and Boeing 747 captain, Ron van der Plas, is retiring in February 2016. On this flight, KL891 to Chengdu, he shared the cockpit with his daughter and a co-pilot (not family).

Mother, Connie den Besten, was a cabin attendant on the flight. She too has been flying since the 1980s and was thrilled to be able to work on this flight with her husband and daughter. “It means I can keep an eye on Linda,” she said with a grin.

“It was more or less coincidence that my father and I were rostered on the same flight,” Linda told me, “Then my mother put in a request for this trip and got it.”

And they are not the only family members who “live on air”. “My uncle is a KLM A330 pilot,” said Linda, “My grandfather, Henk den Besten, also flew for KLM. My brother is a pilot at Turkish Airlines and another uncle flies for the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Oh, and my nephew has just been accepted at the aviation academy.”

Unbelievable. Your parents must have met on a flight? “No, in an Amsterdam pub.”

]]>https://blog.klm.com/this-flying-family-lives-on-air/feed/9The 8 Best Travel Appshttps://blog.klm.com/the-8-best-travel-apps/
https://blog.klm.com/the-8-best-travel-apps/#commentsWed, 04 Mar 2015 06:30:07 +0000https://blog.klm.com/?p=9109When will my luggage reach the baggage belt? What’s the best way to beat jet lag? What is the current exchange rate? How do I get the most out of my layover? Answers to these and many more questions can be found in the travel apps below. Download them for your next trip. 1. TripAdvisor […]

]]>When will my luggage reach the baggage belt? What’s the best way to beat jet lag? What is the current exchange rate? How do I get the most out of my layover? Answers to these and many more questions can be found in the travel apps below. Download them for your next trip.

1. TripAdvisor

Wherever you’re going, there is bound to be someone who’s written a review of it on TripAdvisor. With more than 150 million traveller reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor makes it a lot simpler to find the best attractions, restaurants and hotels at any destination. Useful for planning your journey and when you’re already on your way. The “Near Me Now” tool uses your location to give you a list of hotspots in your immediate vicinity. (free)

2. GetPacked

The risk of packing the night before is that you nearly always forget something essential, whether your reading glasses, lens solution or your phone charger. The app uses questions to compile a packing list which you can, of course, personalise. The list contains more than 600 items and a “To-Do” section for useful things like, “Renew Passport”. So all you have to do is tick off the items on the list the night before. (EUR 1.99 / iPhone)

3. Smart Layover

Do you have three, four, even five hours to kill between flights? The app helps you get more out of your layover. It offers maps of airports, lists of hotels you can book for a few hours, and discounts for tours and airport shops. It helps you to order tickets for the most interesting activities in 140 cities and, thanks to the notification feature, you’ll always know if you have to race back to the airport. (free / Android / iPhone available in some countries)

4. Triposo

This is perhaps the most comprehensive travel guide available for smartphones. It contains maps and highlights for hundreds of countries and cities. An ingenious algorithm attunes the “Must Sees” to match your personal travel behaviour. Using the its suggestions, you can put together your own walking routes. And, if you download the information, the app works offline, too. Very handy when there is no WiFi and for avoiding data roaming costs. You can leave the guidebook at home in future! (free)

5. XE Currency

A shirt that costs 200 shekels… Is that a bargain or not? This app contains all the up-to-date exchange rates in the world. Shake the phone to get the most recent rate. This app is already very highly rated. (free)

6. Zeker op reis (Certainty When You Travel)

Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. If you need help abroad, this app contains the telephone numbers and addresses of embassies and hospitals. There is also a list of vaccinations you need for different countries and regions, health tips and a dictionary of 400 useful words in six languages. (free)

7. JetLag Genie

There is nothing worse than waking up at your destination and feeling drained—the dreaded jet lag. This app helps you to tackle it. It makes a plan for you based on your flight and time zones so that you minimise the effects of jet lag. It all revolves around striking the right balance between sleep, waking hours, catching some sun, food and exercise. The JetLag Genie works it all out for you. (EUR 2.99 / iPhone)

8. Schiphol App

In addition to the usual flight information, the app also sends push notifications with important changes including flight status, times, gates and baggage belt changes: “The expected arrival time of flight KL0869 has changed.” Fun extras include mention of which runway the flight is using and the time the first suitcase will hit the baggage belt. (free)

KLM Apps

KLM has also developed a number of useful apps that we just have to share with you.

KLM AppWith the KLM app you can book a ticket anywhere and everywhere using your phone. You can check in, choose a seat, arrange for extra baggage, or change a reservation. Another useful feature: The app also shows you the latest special offers. And the “Contact Us” feature connects you directly to Facebook or Twitter to contact the social media web care team. (free)

KLM App for Your TabletThis app, only available for tablets, lets you book a flight, but then with a twist. You can select filters for the journey you want to make. For example, no more than five hours in the plane, minimum 20 °C., maximum EUR 600. When you log in with Facebook, an interactive globe with all your friends abroad comes up, including current prices of flights to those places. A playfully and attractively designed app (free)

KLM Houses App“Hang on a moment, I’ve got a note somewhere. No, not here. In my jacket, perhaps, or wallet? I just need to get my bag for a second.” Sound familiar? All that searching for a crumpled piece of paper with the numbers of the KLM Houses you already have? The KLM Houses app is far more practical. It keeps track of which houses you already have on the shelf, which ones are missing and which you have double. Even more fun: There’s an info button next to each house with its history and background. (free)

Travel Tip: An Extra Battery

This isn’t an app, but a very useful travel tip. Anyone who travels a lot and is constantly using these apps, will soon run out of battery power. It’s always useful to know that there are cases for most smartphones which also serve as batteries. They can increase the life of your telephone battery by eight hours or more.
iPhone tip: Mophie Juice Pack.